I've been ordered by my father to sell his 1993 Harley Davidson FXRS-CONV. This is the last year of the low rider convertible. The bike is beautiful and must be sold before this May or I get in trouble.

Selling this bike has thus far been harder than I imagined. Heck, it's been up here for weeks and not even one response so far. I just recently put the bike up on cycletrader.com. Are there any other popular Harley Davidson message forums? I searched around and this looked to be the most active one.

I was the original owner of a 1992 FXRS. The bike was very customzied and cool, but had high mileage. I sold the bike for $10.5K in 2000.

IMHO, the used H/D market has soften a lot in the last year. You will need to substantially lower the price on the bike if you want to get it sold OR be lucky enough to come across that rare individual who will pay more than list for it. Take a look at:

Hayden...I have to agree with Jim on this one. I opened that URL when you first posted the ad a while back. It is a good looking bike...no question about it. But when I saw the price I just closed the link. IMO...that is asking too much for that bike.

Originally posted by chops I guess you're asking for opinions.
It is a 10 year old bike.
Your asking 13.5k for a 5k bike.
Reality hurts.

The bike is only worth 5k? What leads you to believe a near brand new garage kept harley with low miles is only worth 5k? I am no expert but you don't know what you're talking about when it comes to pricing. If I sold the bike for $5,000 I'd be getting ripped off hardcore and the buyer would be getting the greatest deal in the world. I'm a very nice and reasonable guy. I believe I'm selling this bike for a fair price and don't appreciate you undercutting the price by more than half of what the bike is worth. I am taking the best offer for this bike but 5k isn't even half of what the market says it's worth. A harley davidson dealer is selling this model bike with 5 times as many miles for $12,500. According to cycle trader the low end of the price spectrum for this bike is $10,500 while the high end is $14,500. My dad will take no less than $10,500. I'd like to make some money for the time it is taking me to sell which seems like forever.

Originally posted by pasadenajim I was the original owner of a 1992 FXRS. The bike was very customzied and cool, but had high mileage. I sold the bike for $10.5K in 2000.

IMHO, the used H/D market has soften a lot in the last year. You will need to substantially lower the price on the bike if you want to get it sold OR be lucky enough to come across that rare individual who will pay more than list for it. Take a look at:

List your bike for somewhere about "wholesale" and below "retail". That would be a fair asking price.

Chopper is way out of the ballpark with his 5k reality hurts babble. If you could sell a 93 with high mileage for 10.5, I should still be able to get atleast that. Nadaguides and the bluebook are not very accurate in my opinion. I don't think those numbers are very fair for low mileage and well taken care of bikes. I think the used bike market is a giant scam from what I've seen. They don't reflect mileage. I don't understand how cars value changes with mileage but a bike's doesn't? Condition counts for nothing for both the nada and kelly blue book numbers. How can this be an accurate price? A bike that has 6,000 miles and has no chips, rust, etc. should sell for the same price as the same bike with 30k miles and some wear and tear? According to the nada and kbb, an average dealer price is $12,500 while the average private seller price is $10,500. With this bike having near full eagle chrome, perfect maintenance, stage I power upgrade, exhaust, all original replaced parts, factory manual, and always garage kept/covered, and never dropped, average hardly is the word for this bike. My father and I are not selling this bike because we are rich and are buying a new $22,000 Harley and want to get rid of this one for some spare change. We are selling it because financial times are tough right now. My father is going through a divorce. He has been trying to retire for some time now and the divorce is going to mess everything up. My mom is going to get a lot of his money because she is now the legal guardian of my 2 cousins due to their father dieing last year of a heart attack. Their mother is a vegetable due to alcoholism and drinking herself in a coma. My 2 cousins have fetal alcohol syndrome and will probably never be able to live independently. As you can see, my family life really sucks. My mom is pretty much going to get a lot of my pop's money in court and I need money to finish up my college education. I've got this bike all over the place. Hopefully I will make somebody very happy one day. I thank everyone for the advice. It's good to know somebody is listening.

My father is going through a divorce. He has been trying to retire for some time now and the divorce is going to mess everything up. My mom is going to get a lot of his money because she is now the legal guardian of my 2 cousins due to their father dieing last year of a heart attack. Their mother is a vegetable due to alcoholism and drinking herself in a coma. My 2 cousins have fetal alcohol syndrome and will probably never be able to live independently. As you can see, my family life really sucks. My mom is pretty much going to get a lot of my pop's money in court and I need money to finish up my college education.

Please don't take this the wrong way...but NONE of this stuff matters to a potential buyer. It surely has NO bearing on what the price should be for this bike. Very sorry to hear about your hardships, but most of us could make a list of our own...it just doesn't matter. I hope all goes well with the divorce and such.

With regards to the extras and chrome...just forget that all that stuff is on there. It means VERY little when pricing a used bike. You'd be better off putting it back to stock equipment and selling the extras off seperately on eBay or something.

$10,500 sounds like a more reasonable price. The MOST difficult thing now when selling a USED bike (especially one 10+ yaers old) is that there are a LOT more HD Dealerships willing to sell at MSRP now. MSRP for a brand new Dyna is around $13,000, and Softail's are around $15,000. When trying to compete with the MSRP dealerships you have to be realistic about the comparison. WHY would someone spend OVER $10K for a used (10 yr old) Harley when they can buy a NEW one for a few thousand more? I know I wouldn't even think of it.

It takes some research and maybe waiting a month or 2, but there ARE MSRP dealerships. That is what will HURT your potential to sell this bike for over $10,000 in my opinion.

Please don't take this the wrong way...but NONE of this stuff matters to a potential buyer. It surely has NO bearing on what the price should be for this bike. Very sorry to hear about your hardships, but most of us could make a list of our own...it just doesn't matter. I hope all goes well with the divorce and such.

No hard feelings. Even if I had hard feelings, what am I to do? Reach out and punch you with the letter L on my keyboard? Maybe someone rich would like to give to me charity and not try to swindle me to a lower price because they understand my situation You never know what can happen. Some people who have a lot of money are generous if they think this is a one of a kind deal. It's unlikely but it's worth a shot. If none of this stuff matters then how come when I try to talk people down on prices they tend to give all sorts of bs as to why they can't drop the price.

Quote:

With regards to the extras and chrome...just forget that all that stuff is on there. It means VERY little when pricing a used bike. You'd be better off putting it back to stock equipment and selling the extras off seperately on eBay or something.

To hell with Ebay. I'm currently in debt to them for trying to sell a car twice with no success. They can eat my shorts.

I see what you're saying about the extras, but I'd rather leave everything together. The chrome and power package adds to the character of the bike. If anything, those parts should help me get a little bit more for it It shouldn't subtract from the value. I don't have much success when it comes to selling things, and creating more things to sell just makes matters more difficult. I have to deal with more people and I'm not a people person. I do computer programming and internet work for a reason. I'm not real good with the whole bargaining game. It always seems that when I want to buy something people always want me to pay more but then when I want to sell something they always want to give me less. Go figure. I guess that's what being a salesperson is all about.

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$10,500 sounds like a more reasonable price. The MOST difficult thing now when selling a USED bike (especially one 10+ yaers old) is that there are a LOT more HD Dealerships willing to sell at MSRP now.

hmmm.. so pretty much this Harley Davidson was like a bad investment in the stock market. I thought that Harleys kept their value well. I wish my dad put 30,000 miles on the bike. From what I've read, he could have gotten more of his money's worth and been able to sell it for the same price because mileage doesn't matter. That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

Quote:

MSRP for a brand new Dyna is around $13,000, and Softail's are around $15,000. When trying to compete with the MSRP dealerships you have to be realistic about the comparison. WHY would someone spend OVER $10K for a used (10 yr old) Harley when they can buy a NEW one for a few thousand more? I know I wouldn't even think of it.

Well... it takes over a year to get a custom built brand new harley last time I checked. The bike takes a little while to break in before it's really ready to ride and enjoy. If you want a practically brand new Harley without the assembly wait and with less likelihood of bolts coming loose from breaking in, a slightly used Harley may be attractive. The fact that this model was discontinued adds some historic value to it. From what you're saying age is only based on model year and has nothing to do with mileage and condition of the bike. I'm still trying to figure out why this is. It's quite disturbing to me because I really do believe that the care and maintenance of the bike should increase the value of it. The fact that my father is a chief engineer who works at sea half of the year is one of the reasons the bike is so low mileage. His engineering and mechanical background has taught him to be very respectful of machinery. The bike has never been mistreated, raced, or driven recklessly. It has mostly depreciated due to sitting in a garage under the cover for most of its life. What kind of improvements have been made on their bikes since 93?

Quote:

It takes some research and maybe waiting a month or 2, but there ARE MSRP dealerships. That is what will HURT your potential to sell this bike for over $10,000 in my opinion.

You probably know more than me about these prices. I'm still going to look and see what new harleys cost. What's the closest equivalent to the FXRS-CONV?

The bike is only worth 5k? What leads you to believe a near brand new garage kept harley with low miles is only worth 5k?

Hayden,

Ten years old is not "near brand new". That said, your dad's bike is in excellent condition and has very low miles. I'd take a serious look if I had the coins.

I wonder if some of the difficulty in selling it is timing? Its been a long winter and only a few brave souls are riding. I'd bet your prospects will improve dramatrically in 6 - 8 weeks. Same thing is happening at HD dealerships, the ones I've visited have lots of bikes on the showroom floor now. In 6 - 8 weeks they'l all be gone.

Good luck.

wyo

PS - I wish your dad would have ridden it more too

__________________"And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

IMHO, the bike was one of the best Harley ever made. There is NO comparison. No pun intended. There is nothing in the current line exactly like it. I know that NEW in 1992 a FXRS-Con. cost less than $12.5. IF you can get $11K or 11.5K for an 10 year old bike, that's holding value pretty well. Additionally, you must recognize that many, many buyers are looking for the newer model bikes with the Twin Cam engine, a far superior and more reliable engine than the Evo powering your FXRS.

One of the reasons people sell at wholesale to a dealer is that they don't want the hassles of a private party sale. You take less money and have fewer hassles when you sell to a dealer. In this case, you may have a hard time finding a H/D dealer to buy the bike. They'll be lookin' for newer models.

Hayden---I hear what you're saying about bad luck selling stuff lately. I've been trying to sell my '95 Acura Integra Special Edition. This is one sweet little import that I figured would sell in a couple days to some 16 yr old kid that is looking for their first car. I was asking $5500 for God's sake and you know what...I am still driving that damn car right now. Oh well...I'm just glad I wasn't NEEDING to sell it. I just wanted something different. Oh well...I guess I'll be keeping it.

I also understand all the value this bike truly has to offer. It is one of the BEST EVO models ever produced (IMO), but the average Harley Rider today won't know that. All they know is it looks like an old Dyna...but VERY clean. Mileage will be a consideration if you find someone LOOKING for THAT model. Otherwise...the year is MORE important than the mileage. A large majority of HD Service Centers won't even work on bikes that are 10+ years old.

New innovations since your bike...2 words...TWIN CAM. This engine is superior to the 80" Evo in your bike. I think that was already said...oh well.

All this discussion and it really comes down to how FAST you are really trying to sell this bike. If you can wait...it will probably sell in 3-6 months for around $10K. If you're in a MAJOR hurry (which it sounds like you are)...I would advertise it for $10K and be willing to take $9000 for it. That would ensure a fairly quick sale...hopefully.

FWIW----I just saw a 1998 FXD-Police edition w/ 13,000 miles on it go for $9500. This was a beautiful bike with custom black paint, tall bars, custom pipes, and lots of chrome extras. I really wanted to buy it myself, but just didn't have the cash. This bike was being sold in New Mexico. Hated to miss that deal...but there will be others.

A good friend of mine also has his '98 Road King classic for sale. It has 8,000 miles on the engine (28,000 total) and is clean as the day it was bought new. He is asking $13,000, and is having a hard time selling it. Anyone interested...just email me...we can talk about it more. Not trying to hijack your thread Hayden.

Originally posted by ksims1868 Hayden---I hear what you're saying about bad luck selling stuff lately. I've been trying to sell my '95 Acura Integra Special Edition. This is one sweet little import that I figured would sell in a couple days to some 16 yr old kid that is looking for their first car. I was asking $5500 for God's sake and you know what...I am still driving that damn car right now. Oh well...I'm just glad I wasn't NEEDING to sell it. I just wanted something different. Oh well...I guess I'll be keeping it.

I also understand all the value this bike truly has to offer. It is one of the BEST EVO models ever produced (IMO), but the average Harley Rider today won't know that. All they know is it looks like an old Dyna...but VERY clean. Mileage will be a consideration if you find someone LOOKING for THAT model. Otherwise...the year is MORE important than the mileage. A large majority of HD Service Centers won't even work on bikes that are 10+ years old.

New innovations since your bike...2 words...TWIN CAM. This engine is superior to the 80" Evo in your bike. I think that was already said...oh well.

All this discussion and it really comes down to how FAST you are really trying to sell this bike. If you can wait...it will probably sell in 3-6 months for around $10K. If you're in a MAJOR hurry (which it sounds like you are)...I would advertise it for $10K and be willing to take $9000 for it. That would ensure a fairly quick sale...hopefully.

FWIW----I just saw a 1998 FXD-Police edition w/ 13,000 miles on it go for $9500. This was a beautiful bike with custom black paint, tall bars, custom pipes, and lots of chrome extras. I really wanted to buy it myself, but just didn't have the cash. This bike was being sold in New Mexico. Hated to miss that deal...but there will be others.

A good friend of mine also has his '98 Road King classic for sale. It has 8,000 miles on the engine (28,000 total) and is clean as the day it was bought new. He is asking $13,000, and is having a hard time selling it. Anyone interested...just email me...we can talk about it more. Not trying to hijack your thread Hayden.

I know what it's like to try and sell older equipment that has a lot of sentimental value. I drive a 93 ford taurus sho 5 speed. Most people will laugh when you tell them you drive a taurus. Little do they know it has 220hp stock and revs to 7300rpm. There is also a decent aftermarket for it. Mine is making an estimated 260hp at the crank right now with maintenance, aluminum underdrive pulleys, stage II racing camshafts, a performance y-pipe, and a modified intake. The car is worth about $4,000 yet it was one of the fastest 4 door cars for more than a decade. After buying the sho I wanted to sell my 93 ford tempo gl. I've got a rare model tempo with the very reliable 3.0L vulcan motor. I spent atleast $200 in advertisement fees trying to sell it. I received no serious hits on it and am in debt to ebay right now because I don't feel like paying them for not helping me out. I thought it would be cake to sell this harley but now I'm finding out that I can't even easily get what my dad expects for it, let alone some extra money to pay off my debts. I dont' want to let him down and tell him I can only get 10k for it but I guess that's what it will come down to. Knowing my luck the person who buys it off of me will somehow have the skill to find a buyer who will want it for 13k. It's in primo condition, is a rare model that's never been dropped. I wonder how many motor heads can own a bike for a decade and not drop it? Oh wait... that doesn't matter at all. All that matters to nada and kbb is the year and model. Who cares if the oil has never been changed. Who cares if the bolts weren't retorqued or the bike wasn't covered and kept in a garage out of the elements. Maybe it's assumed that most bikes are covered and kept out of the elements. Maybe mileage doesn't matter because most bikes don't have that many miles anyways. I guess there really isn't a difference between 20k and 6k miles. Who cares about the maintenance intervals in between. It's just a motorcycle and is only worth 5k.

Ten years old is not "near brand new". That said, your dad's bike is in excellent condition and has very low miles. I'd take a serious look if I had the coins.

You've got a point. I guess the introduction of the twin cam drops the value of all of the older evolution motor bikes. The sad state of our economy doesn't help things out much either.

Quote:

I wonder if some of the difficulty in selling it is timing? Its been a long winter and only a few brave souls are riding. I'd bet your prospects will improve dramatrically in 6 - 8 weeks. Same thing is happening at HD dealerships, the ones I've visited have lots of bikes on the showroom floor now. In 6 - 8 weeks they'l all be gone.

According to my boss who rides bikes, now is the time to buy or sell on the east coast. We'll just have to see what happens once it really gets warm out.

Quote:

PS - I wish your dad would have ridden it more too

Yeah.... I feel bad for him. He's had that bike for 10 years, hardley rode it even when he was home. My research so far says that he's not going to get substantially more money for the bike from not riding it. It sucks that he's going to lose money on it just for sitting covered in the garage but I guess that's life. Maybe I can talk him into holding on to it or letting me have it. Letting me have it is going to be hard. I know how to ride bikes but I don't even have my motorcycle learners. A heavy harley like the fxrs-conv is not a good first bike for someone to learn on. I'd be better off with a lighter bike like a honda nighthawk or maybe a harley sportster. Hopefully I can get rid of this thing by May. I'm still waiting fo the first offer. I'll put it in the local newspaper in a week or so and see what happns.

Hayden...from what I've heard and seen...an FX model is one of the better bikes (out of the HD line) to learn on if you are serious. It has a lower seat height and lower center of gravity than a Sportster. The Sportster is more nimble, and jerky to control, while the size and height of the FX makes it ride smoother, and handles better. There might be smaller engine models but the ride quality has a LOT to do with easy learning also. Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

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